Hardcore has always rewarded musicians who follow instinct over expectation, and Damien Moyal has built an entire career around that principle. Known for pushing emotional and stylistic boundaries with As Friends Rust, and later Damien Done, among other celebrated musical outfits, Moyal’s latest project, Without, finds him exploring a particularly strange and divisive corner of hardcore’s past.
Without pairs, Moyal with Dave Williams of Crusades and Surrender—they also collaborated on the death-metal-flavored Ekstasis—drawing inspiration from late-'80s hardcore bands that flirted with glam, metal flash, and unapologetic excess. It’s a sound that never fully resolved itself historically, and that unresolved tension is exactly what makes Without compelling.
"We're inspired by the wave of hardcore bands that attempted, with varying degrees of success, to incorporate glam/hair metal influences in the late '80s," Damien told me earlier this week.
"We both have a soft spot for that stuff. Headfirst, SSD, Uniform Choice, and Warzone are probably the more overt reference points, but we also invoke the wanky, licky, noodly spirits of bands like Refuse to Fall, Worlds Collide, and later BOLD. Vocally, however, I went the opposite direction from the music, leaning into a screamier delivery, more akin perhaps to what I did in some of my older bands. I like contrast. Things should never make too much sense."
Without's debut release, Vile Ends, features two original tracks, plus a cover of Warzone's "Judgement Day II (Your Time Will Come," a track from the NYHC band's controversial 1989 self-titled album:
"As we do with Ekstasis, recording is handled ourselves, remotely," the vocalist told me about Vile Ends. " The song 'Taste the Blade' is about othered people (take your pick, but for this exercise my protagonists are an army of sword-wielding trans warriors) rising up against their bigoted oppressors.
"The second track is 'T.R.Y.' and it's about someone coming to that fork in the road where they can either push on or give up. There's no motivational angle; no plea. It's really just saying, "I can tell you're exhausted and this battle isn't going well. Do you have it in you to go another round, or will you throw in the towel?"
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Vile Ends is up now on Bandcamp.
Without on social media: Instagram
Tagged: as friends rust, culture, damien done, morning again, on bodies, shai hulud, without
